Spirit of Elijah, party of four…

Posted by Natalie | February 5, 2008 | 18 Comments

There are lots of things you can pick up on the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, but one of the best things I ever picked up there was a wonderful blogger named Natalie, a.k.a. “Millie.” “b.” and I picked her up right in front of Family History Library. It was the first time I had met Natalie IRL and I enjoyed every minute of our Blogger Girls’ Night Out (even the getting lost part).Most of us tend to put off genealogy, thinking it’s for old people. Not Natalie. A Northwestern girl, wife and mother of five, Natalie is also a prolific blogger. Among her many blogs you can find her at The Genealogy Geek and read more about why she does this here. Natalie also enjoys reading historical stuff, baking, watching movies, cross stitching and playing the piano. You can look forward to reading Natalie’s guest posts here every Tuesday throughout the month of February. Thanks Natalie! –DaleneAt the time, I knew it was strange. No other little girl I knew loved to alphabetize everything in the house, sort and restock Barbie doll outfits at the store, read encyclopedias and reference books, make endless lists, and fill out pedigree charts the way I did. I hid my odd Marian the Librarian-ish behaviors from everyone, including my family. I had no idea then that I was being set up for some of the best work of my life ”“ I just thought I was weird.After settling happily into marriage, giving birth to my first child, and moving to Utah, aka “Genealogy Mecca,” I was inspired to start seriously researching my family history. I’m grateful to have followed that “prompting,” which was more like being tapped on the shoulder by a tidal wave. “Um”¦ pardon me”¦”I took out the big pedigree chart I had filled out a few years before and noticed that, thanks to my Ã¼ber-genealogist grandfather, things were going well with my dad’s side. On Mom’s side, information was scanty. William D. Dysart and Hattie Ellen Duggan had no parents, so I decided to start with them. One uncle had been my primary source of information for that side of my family, but he was busy now and hadn’t looked at his genealogy information for years. The “Hey goofy, you don’t need anyone to hold your hand now” brick had to hit me a few times before I finally took the plunge and got busy. Looking back, I’m grateful I was given enough promptings to make me listen and act in a timely manner.Mom didn’t know much about her family past the first two generations, but I called her anyway. “You should call Grandma,” she told me. This task was a bit daunting. My grandmother and I were not particularly close and I’d never talked to her on the phone for more than a few minutes, a few times in my life. But Grandma was more than happy to give me the names, share her memories, and put me in touch with wonderful cousins, who had awesome (and sometimes awful) stories. She also spread the word that I was interested in genealogy, and as a result, I received letters and printed information from aunts who wanted to help, and had information I needed.And oh, the stories – interesting, touching, sometimes horrible, sometimes hilarious. Great-Grandma Alice joined the Seventh-Day Adventist Church later in life, but as a young girl, she ran away from home, found a job cooking for a riverboat crew, and would “bake all day and dance all night,” according to Cousin Patty. Alice loved playing Scrabble, eating dessert first, and growing her beautiful flowers. Her husband Bill, a “wet Baptist,” enjoyed a “wee nip of the brew” and was known to laugh until he cried (a trait that lives on in Mom, my brother Jeremy and me). Tales of my ancestors’ criminal – and ingenious – antics during Prohibition, of living through the Depression (“We ate bean soup a lot – and when people showed up for dinner, we just poured more water on the beans so we’d have enough for everyone”), of soldiers and sailors and war brides, new babies and lost loved ones … have brought me so much closer to these beloved people and have been SO worth my time.Years later, when most of my mom’s family had fallen into place, another brick hit me: My genealogy had practically been done for me. Miraculously, four women, one from each great-grandparent’s family, had taken the time to put together some sort of family history. Aunt Maude took care of the Keen and Crumley families; Great-Great-Grandma Maggie, the Dysart, Tinsley and Saye families; Cousin Bessie, the Ackley and Tillinghast side; and my dear great-grandmother Alice had joined Daughters of the American Revolution back in the 1950s, and had done a beautiful job researching the Johnson and Proctor families. None of these dear women was a member of the Church, but each one was inspired to do this work, with no way of knowing how it would bless their lives later. “Spirit of Elijah, party of four…”Grandma passed away less than two years after my first “courageous” phone call. I’m more grateful to her than I can say, for the contacts, the stories, the information, and the help she gave me. I shudder to think what would have happened if I’d said to myself, “I’ll do this later, when I have time”¦ and anyway, genealogy is for old people”¦”

Category: Daily Special

Comments

18 Responses to “Spirit of Elijah, party of four…”

Candace Zaugg
February 5th, 2008 @ 10:54 am

Hey Natalie,
Love the post! I am really glad you called Grandma too! I didn’t realize you guys weren’t that close. I would write her a lot – don’t ever remember calling her – but never thought that we weren’t close. I am excited for you and the women who formed the genealogy links for the family – generations to come. They were inspired – no doubt about it!
Natalie
February 5th, 2008 @ 11:06 am

Hey Candace – thanks! I maybe could have worded that differently. I didn’t have much contact with her while I was young – I remember visiting her house twice as a child – as opposed to living next door to my other grandparents from ages 3-12. “Close” is in the eye of the grandchild, I guess. I loved her and I know she loved me, and she was always nice, but I didn’t know her very well until this experience happened. NOW I feel close to her.
Maralise
February 5th, 2008 @ 12:27 pm

One thing I always found discouraging about genealogy is how overwhelming it is (and how boring my Aunt Rose’s two hour long “genealogy” talks were at each family reunion). I’ve run away from doing genealogy for most of my adult life only to have it chase me until I slowed down for a minute.

But, it wasn’t the family tree that called to me, IOW finding new ancestors to fill empty spots. It was one woman who I HAD to know more about. I haven’t entered one name into a computer program nor done one family baptism for the dead but I’ve gathered her stories, re-lived her life in my head, had her inspire me to stay faithful, keep writing, keep believing. And I’m so grateful.
Natalie
February 5th, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

Maralise, I agree, it can be overwhelming AND boring. We tend to rattle on ad nauseum about our “dead people” because we spend so much time with them and find them so fascinating. I’m sure my family and friends get bored with me too. But then they’ll email me… “Didn’t we have someone who died in the Salem witch trials?”

There are all kinds of ways to do family history work. It’s neat that by researching and preserving this relative’s life, you were helped as well.
Carrot Jello
February 5th, 2008 @ 1:28 pm

Hey Natalie!
Wow. I’ve always wanted to say that.
Great post!
Heffalump
February 5th, 2008 @ 3:54 pm

If there is anyone that makes me feel that yearning to start working on my family history more…it would be you Natalie. Thanks!
Michelle
February 5th, 2008 @ 4:43 pm

I worked at the Family History Library for 3 years. What a great place. (Please notice that it’s the FHL and not the church genealogical library.) It’s so exciting to find things about your relations!
Luisa
February 5th, 2008 @ 5:16 pm

Fantastic post, you little celebrity, you!
Alice
February 5th, 2008 @ 5:24 pm

I’m now one of those “old people,” but I began my love affair with genealogy/family history at the ripe young age of 20, when my Aunt Elsie gave my mother the beginnings of her family history research. There were a lot of members of my grandparents’ generation still living when she started, and that’s where she started, too. I’m grateful to her for her boost to this fascinating obsession, the groundwork she did, the inspiration to begin. We were fortunate to work together for a time on our lines, before she died in 1987. After she died, I put it away until we got our first computer and the Internet in January 1995.

We’ve certainly come a long way!
Dalene
February 5th, 2008 @ 5:34 pm

Thanks Michelle–I fixed it. Thanks for again for the post Natalie. Really one of these days I’m going to jump in and see what’s left on my end. After I figure out whether or not we’re cousins I know exactly where to start next.
Monica
February 5th, 2008 @ 7:24 pm

I was adopted and wasn’t sealed to my family until I was 12. I think that is why I have always been drawn to genealogy. You are right genealogy isn’t just for old people.

My biological father passed away in April, and since then I have been borderline obsessive about genealogy. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one under 70 with a hobby like this.
b.
February 5th, 2008 @ 10:40 pm

I enjoy indexing.
I have a TON of work to do. At times I even feel a pull coming from somewhere beyond.
It’s not my season.
I absolutely LOVE Natalie’s passion for this work!

ps. I LOVED getting lost, getting kicked out of anthroP., and just about every aspect of that night in SLC.
Dennis
February 6th, 2008 @ 1:26 am

I am looking for a talk/article from the Ensign by Pres. Monson in the past 10-15 years directed to the spouses of inactive/nonmember husbands/wives. Pres. Monson counsels these spouses to treat their companions with respect and even as if they are active/members, inviting them with love to participate in FHE and to go to church, etc. Pres. Monson promises that if the spouse does this he/she will see their inactive/nonmember companion join the Church. Can anyone help me find this talk/article?

Dennis
Laredo, TX
kimden85@gmail.com
La Yen
February 6th, 2008 @ 1:56 am

I LOVE doing the family history. I HATE that they changed the words to the primary song because now I don’t know how to sing it.
I’m a Johnson–maybe we are related. I mean, how many can there be?
Dalene
February 6th, 2008 @ 9:07 am

La Yen made me giggle this morning.

One of the best things about reading the stories about your ancestors is seeing a bit of them in yourself. Or finding new traits that inspire you to be better somehow. I can’t wait to read more.
Jen Waite
February 6th, 2008 @ 12:55 pm

Nat –

My awesome oldest cousin â˜º You are a an inspiration. We can’t do everything well but we can do some things & you have done it in geneology. The spirit touched me while I read your passage & so who knows… maybe someday I will join the ranks.

Love & Miss you! Looking forward to this summer!
Jen
Aunt Sherri Dysart
February 7th, 2008 @ 3:42 pm

Great blog, Natalie! You have been an inspiration to many people with all the work you have done for the family. BTW, Grandma D really loved you. She talked positively about you whenever your name came up in conversation. As in many families including my own parents and ancestors, I think they were busy living their lives and doing what they have done their whole lives: the daily mundane acts of life like laundry, cooking, cleaning and for Grandma D tearing out her lawn frequently and replacing it herself and chipping off the ice on the top of the house in the middle of the winter when she was 69 years old! She had more spunk than anyone else I can remember knowing in my lifetime. What a woman!
Keep up the great work.
Aunt Sherri
name
May 6th, 2008 @ 5:22 pm

I can’t be bothered with anything. It’s not important. I haven’t gotten much done lately. I just don’t have much to say , but what can I say? Today was a total loss.,